Review – Trophy Cupcake’s Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallow Frosting (aka Smore’s Cupcakes)

Such a long recipe title… don’t know why they don’t just call them Smore’s Cupcakes. Anyway, this recipe is from Jennifer Shea of Seattle’s Trophy Cupcakes, and they are fabulous!!! I got the recipe from the Martha Stewart Website here.

Let’s start by preheating the oven to 350F. Now, combine all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Separately combine the wet ingredients together. Set aside and prepare the crumb crust that will line the bottom of these cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Place approximately 1 tbsp. of the crumb mixture into each muffin cup. I used a #50 ice cream scoop to keep things nice and neat.

The recipe says to pack down the crumbs with the bottom of a glass, but all of my glasses were too wide so I used my Pampered Chef mini muffin tin crust press thingy (I’ve had this thing for years, but I think this is the very first time I’ve ever used it… it worked great btw).

On the left, the neat little mounds of pre-measured crumbs. On the right, the crumbs are gently tamped into place to form a bottom crust.

Next they get a nice healthy dose of chocolate. The recipe calls for chopped bittersweet chocolate, but I was in too much of a hurry to chop 9 ounces of chocolate so mini semi-sweet chips fit the bill. Add 2 tsp. to each cup. Then into a 350F oven for 5 minutes (the chocolate will be soft after 5 minutes, but will still hold it’s shape).

Now it’s time to combine the wet and dry ingredients together. Mix together on low for 30 seconds. Scrape bowl and increase speed to high and mix 2 minutes. Add boiling water and combine. Batter is very, very liquid-y. Looks like chocolate milk.

The recipe said to fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.

The cupcakes domed nicely in the oven, but cooled with these weird kind of humps. I filled the second batch about 4/5 full….

They looked much better, but there was still a little hump action… don’t know what that’s all about, but I wasn’t too worried because I knew the marshmallow frosting would hide all flaws!

Speaking of the marshmallow frosting… place your stand mixer bowl over a barely simmering pot of water. Whisk egg whites, sugar, and cream of tarter together until sugar crystals are completely dissolved and the eggs are warm (3-4 min).

Then transfer mixer bowl to the stand mixer and whip the warm whites until stiff peaks form (5-7 minutes) – add vanilla and beat just a minute to combine.

I piped frosting swirls using a 1M tip, then got out one of my favorite kitchen toys…

My torch . It’s so much fun to use. Great for browning Creme Brulee and Meringue.

Voila! The look yummy, don’t they?

These cupcakes were made for a school party. Check out this neat cupcake carrier I found at my favorite store Costco. It actually came with 3 tiers, but I’m only using 2 of them here – each one holds 12 cupcakes. I’ll post more about this nifty carrier later.

I had some extra cupcakes to play around with… here’s what happens when you use the same piping tip, but vary the application slightly. The cupcakes in the back were piped in a swirl motion, starting from the outside and swirling in, resulting in a tall ice cream cone-like dollop. The cupcakes in the front were piped in a swirl motion starting from the inside and swirling out, resulting in a flatter top that resembles a rosette.

Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 20 squares)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (or mini chocolate chips)
• Marshmallow Frosting (recipe below)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. Sift 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix ingredients together on low speed.
3. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add boiling water and stir to combine; set cake batter aside.
4. Place graham cracker crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl; stir until well combined.
5. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Reserve remaining graham cracker mixture for topping. (note – I didn’t have any crumbs leftover from making the bottom crusts so I skipped this step)
6. Place 2 teaspoons chocolate in each muffin cup. Bake for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup 3/4 to 4/5 full with cake batter. Sprinkle each with remaining chocolate and graham cracker mixture. Return to oven and bake until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack in pan for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.
7. Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a large start tip. Pipe frosting in a spiral motion on each cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet. Using a kitchen torch, lightly brown the frosting, taking care not to burn the cupcake liners. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

Marshmallow Frosting

• 8 large egg whites
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined. Use immediately.

My Notes: the marshmallow frosting is very sweet and you might want to have a wet paper towel handy when you eat one of these cupcakes… despite how careful I tried to be, I ended up with little spots of sticky white marshmallow all over my hands and face (not a graceful cupcake – don’t want to see what will happen when a little one eats one of these). Aside from that, these are really moist and delicious! I had quite a bit of leftover cake batter… enough for 6 additional cupcakes (no graham cracker crumbs leftover for crusts though). And I think I have enough leftover meringue frosting to frost another batch of cupcakes.

Indoor Grilled Pork Chops

No dry, tough pork here… look at these deliciously juicy Indoor Grilled Boneless Pork Chops. Mmmm – you want some don’t you? Good news – you can have as much as you like, but you’ll have to make them yourself. Don’t worry, they’re easy, but plan to make extra because you’ll crave them the next day like my kids do when they come home from school. Have you every heard of kids begging to eat leftover pork chops for their after school snack? It’s Crazy!

Funny story – a relative was visiting recently when I served these chops for dinner. He went on and on about them… asked me what I did to make them taste so good. I told him nothing special, I just seasoned them with salt and pepper. He responded, “Are you sure?”. Me, “Yep, I’m very sure”. I could tell he wasn’t satisfied with my answer, but he nodded slowly and continued eating.

Over the next couple of days he mentioned the pork chops quite a few times – I was so pleased that he liked them. As his visit came to an end, he asked one more time, “What did you say you put on those pork chops?”. “Just salt and pepper” I said. Again he started nodding slowly… “Really, that’s it?” Then I nodded slowly and said, “Really, that’s it!”. He obviously thought I was holding out on him because as he walked out the door he stopped nodding and started shaking his head saying, “I sure don’t know what you did to those pork chops… you say just salt and pepper, but I don’t know”. Then he shrugged his shoulders as if giving up in defeat… he’s such a character!

Well, it’s true… just salt and pepper… really!
Of course, not over cooking the chops helps a lot too.

There’s no real recipe here… just a couple techniques that can be applied to as many or as few pork chops as you wish. I like to cook BIG, so I went to my favorite store Costco and purchased this huge vacuum packed pork loin. This sucker weighed 8.5 pounds – enough for 18 (yes eighteen) thick pork chops… and it cost less than $16. You can’t buy dinner at a restaurant for that.

Okay, start by preheating the oven to 350F. Don’t forget to do this! Now cut the loin into 1 1/4-inch thick chops. If you buy a big loin like I did, you’ll need a couple of large cutting boards. Or, feel free to purchase pre-cut boneless pork chops. Whatever works best for you. Just be sure they’re about 1 1/4-inches thick.

Trivia Question: what’s the difference between a really good restaurant chef and your average home cook? Answer: a restaurant chef knows how to properly season, while most home cooks don’t. So, season both sides of your chops well with Kosher salt and pepper (remember, these guys are pretty thick). Btw, Kosher salt is much less salty than table salt so be very careful if you use table salt.

Now, I preheat my non-stick grill pan over a med-high flame for a minute or two – just long enough so the meat sizzles a bit when it hits the pan – you definitely don’t want your non-stick pan to be screaming hot. Overheating non-stick pans will ruin their coating and make them emit harmful but odorless fumes, so save super high heat for stainless and cast iron pans.

This is an All-Clad Double Grill Pan. I LOVE this pan – it leaves nice grill marks on everything, is oven safe up to 450F, and it cleans up like a dream.

When your grill pan is hot, place your chops on the pan diagonally and DON’T TOUCH THEM for at least 4 minutes, then you can take a quick peak to see how brown your grill marks are. Flip then when those grill marks are nice and brown (brown equals flavor). Should be on the first side for a total of 4-5 minutes. Immediately turn off both burners. If you have an oven safe meat probe/thermometer, insert it into the center of the thickest pork chop now, and transfer grill pan to the heated 350F oven.

Cook until the internal temperature reaches 160F (about 12 minutes). Remove from the oven and let them rest for 4-5 minutes before serving. Mmmmm, so good!!!

I hope you give these a try – they’re really, really delicious!!!

Chicken Noodle Soup – Italian Style

In my circles, I’m known for my chicken noodle soup. I attribute its popularity to several key ingredients – rich, garlicy homemade chicken stock, loads of dried parsley, tons of chicken, and really thick country style noodles.

First I start with these wonderful Country Pasta egg noodles. They’re not your ordinary noodle, no… they are extraordinary and well worth finding. What makes them so special you ask? The fact that they’re really thick and hold up extremely well in soups and stews. They have a real textural quality when you bite into them. They’re sold all over the country at grocery stores and price clubs. Because these noodles are so much more substantial than other brands, they take twice as long to cook, so I boil them before assembling the soup (use a large stock pot because these guys puff up quite a bit). Be sure to salt your water well, or they’ll taste very bland (water should taste like the sea).

I always make a huge batch of this soup because it’s so popular, but you can easily reduce the ingredients for a smaller batch. First I start with about 6 quarts of Homemade chicken stock.

Then I add as much leftover shredded chicken as I can gather – for a batch of soup this size, I would suggest the meat from 1 1/2 to 2 chickens. I like to roast my own chickens, but feel free to use rotisserie chickens if you like.

Now I add frozen mixed veggies – I like this organic brand from Costco. I use about half of this 5lb. bag.Don’t forget to add salt and pepper to taste, and throw in a decent palmful of dried parsley – another Costco item I can’t live without. Then just heat and serve.

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup
recipe serves 26, but can easily be reduced
6 quarts homemade chicken stock (recipe here)
1 lb. County Pasta, cooked in properly salted water  (if using a standard pasta, don’t add it to the soup until service or it will get too soggy)
Leftover shredded meat from 1 1/2 to 2 roasted chickens (recipe here)
2 1/2 lbs. frozen mixed vegetables
2-3 tbsp. dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!

Review – Vanilla Cupcake Recipe by Amy Sedaris

I just had to try this recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes by Amy Sedaris after reading “my cupcakes were voted second best in the city by New York Magazine“.
The recipe is posted here on Epicurious.com.

I found these cute cupcake papers at Michael’s.

Start by creaming the butter…

Then add the sugar, blend and scrape… you know the routine… add the eggs, vanilla, dry ingredients, etc. Blend, scrape, yadda, yadda.

I used vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract. They measure equally and can be used interchangeably, so feel free to substitute it anytime you like.

See the little vanilla seeds? They looks so cute in the batter! (note – the vanilla seeds weren’t that visible in the finished cupcakes, so reserve this paste for things like Panna Cotta, buttercream, whipped cream)

I love ice cream scoops for jobs like filling muffin tins. This is a number 20 scoop (did you know these scoops have numbers on the sweeper arm thingy???). The number indicates how many level scoops equal one quart. I have 5 of these scoops in various sizes, although one is currently MIA – I suspect Mr. 15 year old knows more about it than he’s telling me. Anyway, they’re great for scooping cookie dough, portioning rice, filling dessert glasses, and so on.

See how neat these cupcake wrappers were filled… no globs of batter anywhere!

The recipe instructs baking these cupcakes for 20 minutes in a 375F oven. I thought 375F was a bit high, but I followed the instructions anyway. Here they are after about 5 minutes in the oven… they look fine, don’t they?

Here they are after baking for the full 20 minutes. Much too brown for a ‘vanilla’ cupcake if you ask me…

They flattened out quite a bit too. So I decided to make a second batch, but baked them at a lower temp.

What a difference 25 degrees can make! Overall, these cupcakes were okay, but I wouldn’t call them the second best in NYC. The vanilla flavor is pronounced, but the cupcakes are a bit on the dry side, even when baked at the lower temp of 350F.

I served these cupcakes with a dollop of super easy to make chocolate ganache, which tastes so incredibly good and just melts in your mouth (btw, none of my guests commented on the cupcakes, but everybody loved the ganache!).

To make this easy ganache, you’ll need roughly equal parts chocolate and heavy cream (the ratio can be varied somewhat, but this is a good place to start). You can use whatever chocolate you like best… I’m a dark chocolate fan, but I actually used Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate chips here.

Simply heat the chocolate and heavy cream together in a double boiler, over barely simmering water, stirring constantly until the chocolate and cream are fully combined. That’s it. Use it warm as a drizzle or glaze, or set it aside and wait about 8 hours for it to thicken to a spreadable or pipe-able consistency (pictured above).

Even if you don’t try making these cupcakes, definitely try the ganache… you won’t be disappointed!

Homemade chicken stock for just pennies per gallon!

(FYI – another Foodgawker rejected photo. Reason: out of focus/blurry. Hello… the center is very focused and the edges are intentionally out of focus, like a million other photos on their site. Click on the photo to see for yourself… you can see a microscopic spec of something on the side of the middle storage container… clear as a bell. Oh well, TasteSpotting accepted it – 35396 )

How do you make a gallon of homemade, uber flavorful, super rich chicken stock for just pennies? First start with the leftover carcasses of two roasted chickens – skin, bones, pan dripping, the works (giblets too, but no livers please).

I used the worlds juiciest oven-roasted chickens ever for this batch, but rotisserie chickens work wonderfully as well. I’ll spare you a photo of the carcasses , but put all the icky bits in a really big stock pot; I like a 12qt, heavy duty.

Incidentally, you can make this stock with uncooked chicken, it just won’t be nearly as colorful, and it won’t be quite as flavorful, but hey, it’ll still be way better than the canned stuff.

Additionally, you’ll need 3 peeled carrots, the leafy top 2 inches of a bunch of celery, 2 jumbo onions, 1 head of garlic (yes a whole head), 15-ish peppercorns (no salt yet), 2 large bay leaves (Turkish please, California bay is way too strong), and a good palm full of dried parsley; like 2 tablespoons (or a bunch of fresh parsley stems if you happen to have them hanging around). I’ll also add the following if I have them on hand – mushroom stems, a few sun-dried tomatoes, scallion trimmings, parsnips, leek trimmings, etc.

Okay, time to prep the veg – chop the onions into big chunks, leaving the skins on – they add wonderful color. Cut the head of garlic right in half – skin and all. Cut about 2 inches off the top of the celery bunch. Peel and trim the carrots and chop into 1-inch pieces – leaving the peel on makes the stock taste bitter. Been there, done that!

Now throw everybody into the stock pot and cover with water. Crank up the heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to barely simmering (if you’re making this with raw chicken, you may want to skim the scum off the surface after 15 or 20 minutes). Simmer, uncovered, for at least 2 hours, but you can let it go for as long as 10 or 12 hours; add more water if you need to, but if you’re simmering on a low enough heat, and you’re using good heavy stock pot, you shouldn’t need to. Oh, be prepared to fight off the nosy neighbors who’ll want to know what that amazing smell is!

Mmmmm… see how the onion skins have turned almost a mahogany color? That color equals tons of flavor. Yum!

What’s that you ask… what about the rest of the veggies? Er, uh, well… I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you this but… they’re dead. Very, very dead.

Hey, don’t be sad… they knew what they were doing… they wanted you to experience this stock… they knew you couldn’t do it without them… if they were here today, they would be very proud.

Now, observe a moment of silence while you strain all the the dead veggies out of this rich, nutritious, and delicious liquid gold.

Okay, snap out of it and be happy I didn’t post a photo of the last step – not pretty!
Now, add salt to taste (very important!), and there you go… the most amazing homemade stock imaginable. So easy to make and SO much better than anything you can get at the store… and let’s not even attempt to compare it’s virtues against that other stuff… you know… that stuff called bullion (please don’t say that word out loud – there are impressionable children all around).

You can easily cut this recipe in half, but why make a little when you can make a lot. Did I mention it costs mere pennies to make a gallon of this stuff? Literally, this huge batch of stock cost me less than a buck. You can’t even think about buying a vastly inferior can of the grocery store stuff for less than a buck, forget about 8 cans. Stock your freezer, and you’ll never have to settle for less again! Stay tuned for my quick and easy chicken noodle soup.

Foodgawker Worthy?

So, I’ve been submitting blog photos to FoodGawker and TasteSpotting. Sadly, Foodgawker has declined all my submissions… except for one… which was a photo I didn’t take… and it was from someone else’s blog – sigh!

Well, at least they tell me what they don’t like, unlike TasteSpotting, who is apparently hoping I’ll go away if they keep ignoring me.

Here are a few examples of declined photos, and the reasons why.

They said the background was too distracting on this one. Okay, I can agree with that, so I cropped and blurred and resubmitted.
Their reply, “looks weird… sorry”.
(just rip my heart out why don’t you. It only took me 24 sleepless hours to make!)

This one was labeled “lighting issues”.
(hmmm)

This one “food composition”.
(but, but… can’t they see all that juicy goodness???)

This one “dull/unsharp”.
(are they blind? I can see dimples on that egg shell)

So I did a little research online and found that I should be using either a light box or natural sunlight for the best results. Apparently backgrounds are pretty important too… white seems to accent food colors best. I didn’t have a white tablecloth or photographers light box hanging around, so here’s what I came up with.

A scrap of leftover foam core and a bright spot on the kitchen floor in front of my patio door.
Add a tri-pod, zoom in, use “spot” focus, and…

Ta-Da!
Pretty good before and after, huh.
Okay, I’m going to try again… either I’m a sucker for punishment, or maybe, just maybe, they’ll accept this one. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Update – They accepted it… (I’m doing cartwheels)… photo number 17437. Has a nice ring to it .

Another Update – TasteSpotting accepted it too… still no email from them about it, but I saw it there this morning… photo number 35303. Happy-Happy.

Pink Applesauce

How do you get your kids to eat those last apples left abandoned at the bottom of the fruit bowl…
the ones that have aged to the point where they’re starting to get a little, uh, “squishy”?
Make Pink Applesauce!

I started with 5 Rome apples. See how the skin is rippled? Yes I know, ripply skinned apples are not very appetizing, but I thought maybe that red skin of theirs might lend some of that rich color to a much more appetizing, perfectly pink applesauce.

So I cored and chopped the apples into approximately 1-inch chunks. Put them in a pot with
about 1/2 cup water over medium heat; stirring and smooshing every now and then.

After about 10 minutes the apples were softening nicely, but I noticed the skins weren’t looking so good… their ruby red color was fading fast, completely disappearing in a few places.

Uh oh, was I about to have an even less appetizing mess on my hands? Only time would tell, so I kept cooking, and stirring, and smooshing for another 15 minutes. Yuck is what I was thinking, but….

I let the mucky mixture cool and then I put it through the medium disk of a hand held food mill (great gadget, by the way).

And Voila! The most cheerful and yummy applesauce imaginable! Sadly, 5 apples only made about a pint of applesauce, but the 6 of us had a good time sharing it.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that this applesauce was perfectly sweet without adding any additional sugar. I’ll definitely be doing this again!

Scrambled Eggs For Dinner!

I have a good friend who likes to say, “A woman only has so many meals in her”. What she means is, you can’t be a gourmet chef every night of the week. Boy do I understand that! So when I’m not feeling the whole gourmet vibe, I make something simple like eggs. Truth be know, I’m not a huge egg fan, but if I have to eat them, I want to eat them scrambled – Yummy!

I start by beating a few eggs in a bowl and heating up a big cast iron skillet. I’ve been using this one for 20 years. See how nice and black it is?

Well, about 10 years ago all that black disappeared when my hubby decided to surprise me by making dinner. Boy was I surprised… dinner from a man who doesn’t cook AND 10 years of hard work destroyed all in one fail swoop.

You see, my beloved’s intentions were wonderful, but he simmered tomato sauce in my skillet for hours. Highly acidic tomato sauce. Do you know what highly acidic tomato sauce does to a very black, very well seasoned 10 year old cast iron skillet??? Sigh.

Well, 10 more years have passed now and I’m happy to report my pan is finally back to its former well seasoned glory after a decade of TLC. That, and watching it like a hawk whenever my husband steps foot into the kitchen, which thankfully, doesn’t happen very often. (I love you honey, but don’t use my pan again)

Oh, back to the eggs. When the skillet is nice and hot, I melt a pat of butter (of course).

Now I pour in the beaten eggs and stir, stir, stir with my silicone spatulas. See how the eggs aren’t sticking? That’s what a well seasoned cast iron pan will do for you!

Voila! The eggs are done in 30-45 seconds flat.
(take that Rachel Ray)
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, a little parsley for color, and a touch of dried marjoram if you like – marjoram is related to oregano, but has a very delicate, more flowery flavor that goes very well with eggs.

Super Crunchy Oven Roasted Potatoes!

Potatoes are my favorite root vegetable. As a matter of fact, I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like, and these oven roasted spuds rank right up at the top of the list!

I especially like to roast my potatoes along side the juiciest oven roasted chicken ever.
There’s just something about chicken fat that really makes them good!

Anyway, I peeled and cut up about 4 large Idaho baking potatoes, but you could use whatever potatoes you like. Sometimes I throw in a few carrots too, but not today.

Next I drizzled the potatoes with a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Just enough to protect them from the oven heat and keep them from shriveling into dry little bricks. I threw in a few chunks of chopped onion too. The onion will burn when exposed to too much direct heat, so tuck them down under the potatoes. You can season with a little salt and pepper now, or do like me and forget until later. Ooops.

After nearly 2 hours in a 350F oven, the chicken was done. The potatoes were technically done too, but they weren’t as brown and crispy as I like them because they ended up swimming in a lot of pan juices, so I removed the chickens from the roasting pan, poured off the juices (reserve for stock or gravy), tossed the potatoes with some of the rendered chicken fat, seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper, then increase the oven temp to 450F and roasted the potatoes, uncovered, for another 10-15 minutes. Here’s what they looked like when they were done.

So crispy and yummy! See those really dark bits? They’re the most delicious caramelized onions imaginable. I really hope you try these sometime!

The Juiciest Oven Roasted Chicken Ever!

Roasted Chicken is a favorite for this family of 6. I like to roast 2 birds at a time so I can have enough cooked chicken for 2 meals, and make a big batch of homemade chicken stock, which I value like gold! Stay tuned for a separate post on how to make the most wonderful chicken stock.

I’d love to be able to tell you that I purchase free-range or kosher birds, but in my small town, such things don’t exist, so I have to rely on what’s available at the grocery store or wholesale price club (Hey Costco, if you’re reading this… I love you). Okay, so I purchased 2 birds from Costco, a total of 11 pounds, for only $9.58. Compare that to the price of the wonderful rotisserie chickens they sell; 2 birds, a total of 6 pounds, for $10 – oh don’t get me wrong, those tasty little rotisserie birds are too good to pass up when I’m pressed for time, but today I’ll roast my own.

Now – How to brine chicken:

Okay, first let me say that I grew up eating roasted chicken… we had it all the time and I loved it. Didn’t think it could get any better, until I discovered the wonderful world of brining.
If you’ve never brined before, you MUST give it a try.
Brining adds soooooo much moisture and flavor. You’ll truly be amazed!

Here’s how I brined my two 5.5 pound chickens. I do everything in a huge 16qt stockpot, but you can use a 5 gallon bucket, a large plastic storage container, a cooler… basically whatever you have that will hold 2 gallons of brine and 2 chickens. By the way, this stockpot is one of those cheap-o flimsy ones that is so light weight and thin that anything you try to cook in it burns instantly (even boiled pasta – seriously, I mean it). Not good for cooking, but great for boiling water or brining.

Recipe can be halved, but here’s what you’ll
need for two chickens:

2 gallons water (divided)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt (I use Morton’s)
(or 1/4 cup non-iodized table salt)
2 teaspoons of ground black pepper

Start by bringing 1 quart of water to a boil (4 cups). Add salt and sugar; stir to dissolve; cool. Add enough cold water to equal 2 gallons (that’s an additional 28 cups – yikes). Be sure your finished brine is cold. Stir in the black pepper (my arms would fall off if I tried to grind all that pepper by hand, so I either grind peppercorns in a coffee mill that I reserve for spices, or I use a good brand of pre-ground pepper). Add the chickens, being sure to fully submerge them – get that brine inside too! Cover the stockpot and refrigerate for 8-12 hours (I’ve even forgotten about them for 24 hours and they still turned out fine). If you’re brining in a cooler, just throw an ice pack or two in every couple of hours, being sure the temp doesn’t go above 40F.

After the chickens are done lounging in their luxurious salt bath, remove them from the brine and pat them dry. Discard the used brine. Let the birds sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes (you can skip this step if you’re in a hurry). Pat birds dry again and rub each with 1-2 tablespoons of softened butter. Yuck Warning – if the chickens aren’t completely dry, the butter will stick to you instead of them!

Sprinkle liberally with ground black pepper, but DO NOT sprinkle with salt at this point. Remember, these guys were swimming in the dead sea for like 12 hours.

Oops, I forgot to tell you that I stuffed each chicken with half of a large onion and
some whole garlic cloves.
Click here for super crunchy oven roasted potatoes

I like to tie the legs together for a nicer finished presentation. Believe me, they turn out much better looking this way.

These babies are going to exude a lot of juice, so be sure to use a deep sided roasting pan. Roast the birds at 350F for about 20 minutes per pound (5.5 pounds x 20 minutes = 1 hour and 50 minutes), or until the internal temperature taken in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165F. Remove the chickens from the oven and let them rest for 10-15 minutes before carving. Oops, you can see that I set the alarm on my roasting thermometer to go off at the wrong temp, but I’m not worried… I know these guys are still going to be super juicy and tender.

Mmmm – you are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE this chicken. Your family is going to Love Love Love this chicken… and your mother-in-law is going to hate hate hate you and be so jealous (err, uhh, just kidding… Hi Carol! Thank you for all the great kitchen toys you’ve given me over the years… your son sends his love… so do your grandkids… me too… oh, and I’ll be needing a new kitchen scale for Christmas next year… ).

Can you see the puddle of juice this chicken breast is oozing? Yes, its even juicier than a rotisserie chicken… sooooo succulent. Be prepared to hear even your pickiest eater grunt and groan with sounds of praise while devouring it.
You’re going to thank me – Enjoy!

Happy-Happy. I found whole chickens on sale for .69 per pound… even cheaper than Costco – Yippie!